Rising temperatures signal that summer is on its way; this means that you’re running out of time to prepare for overheating Indramat servos season. Sure, you might feign enthusiasm while putting on your favorite pair of shorts and a brightly colored tank top; you might act like you’re enjoying that ice cream cone. You might even wear a smile as you strap on those sandals, wiggling your toes for the world to see. But deep down you’re dreading these increasing temperatures and you’re on pins and needles. Every time the daily high goes up a tick is like a punch to the gut, and you’re secretly wishing the temperature would drop a few degrees. That’s because you know that the summer can wreak havoc on your servos.
We often get client calls about overheating Indramat servos in the summer. Overheating is one of the few seasonal servo motor problems, but overheating isn’t limited to the warm months, though. Heat failure is one of the most common errors for Indramat motion control systems. There are typically more cases of overheating during the warm months than cool months, but your servos can get too hot any time of the year.
Still, rising temperatures typically correlate to a rising number of service calls about heat failure. Call 479-422-0390 for immediate Indramat service.
What happens when servos overheat?
There are several things that can cause your servos to overheat. Increased temperatures outside of the plant increases temperature inside your plant. This makes harder for you to get rid of the heat that your industrial machinery cranks out.
How you regulate the temperature of your machinery and the condition of your machines can also play into whether your machines will overheat.
If your servos get too hot, they can damage other parts of your system. Thankfully, Indramat servos have a fail safe. If the temperature exceeds the maximum threshold, your machines shutdown to prevent thermal destruction. This generates an overtemperature shutdown diagnostic message. You might see an Indramat overtemperature shutdown message for your heatsink, bleeder, motor, or drive.
How can you prevent overheating Indramat servos?
Again, the outside temperature has a big impact on your servos. While it’s not practical to keep your plant refrigerator-cool, you do need to regulate the temperature within your plant as much as you can.
You must also regulate the temperature of your machinery as best as possible. Make sure that your cooling system is set up correctly, and make sure your system vents properly. Check your air-conditioned cabinet to see if it is functioning properly — if it isn’t, get it fixed.
Under no circumstance should you prop open the cabinet door and place a massive box fan in front of your servo (we’ve seen this many times). Not only is this an ineffective means of cooling your servos, but that fan is sucking up dust and dirt from your factory floor and blasting your servo with grime. Dirt will find its way into nooks and crannies, prevent airflow, and actually make servo heat failures more likely.
How do you fix a servo that is overheated?
You can clear some heat errors in-house. Removing clogs in ventilation systems or cleaning blowers might get rid of the error. However, you can’t repair defective Indramat servo motors in-house. The only way to repair Indramat servos is a factory repair or Indramat REMAN.
The best way to take care of an overheating Indramat servo is by give calling us at 479-422-0390. We have the knowledge, experience, and expertise to get your system running again as quickly as possible.